
LESSONS ON THE BOOK OF LUKE.
21
vation to .everyone that believeth.
d
Rom. i : i6. Peter ad-
dresses those who are kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
I Peter I : 5. Kept from what by the power of God ?—Kept
from falling. Jude 24. Kept from falling into sin and condem-
nation, as the next verse indicates, by saying that the Saviour
will present us
faultless
before the presence of his glory/Man-
ifestly, he keeps. us in the condition in which he presents us.
Since God is able to keep men faultless, it must be that he is
able to make them faultless; and he is as able to do this now as
he will be two or three days before the time for translation to
heaven. It is not now, nor will it ever be, in the power of man
to do this; but let no one limit the power of God by saying that
he
cannot do it. Then to him " be glory and majesty, domin-
ion and power, both now and ever." God only can have the
glory, for he does the work. Therefore, as he is to have the
glory now, he must do the work now. Our part is to let him
do it. "Submit yourselves therefore to God." James 4: 7.
Submit to his righteousness (Rom. ro : 3), which he desires to
put within and upon us (Rom. 3 : 22).
2.
" THE
shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even
unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which
the Lord hath made known unto us." There was prompt be-
lief. They did not go to Bethlehem to see if what the angel had
told them was true, but to see the thing which they knew was
true, because the Lord had told them. Such faith when the
Lord speaks is not very common. Most people imagine that it
is a sign
of a
weak, credulous mind to believe at once, without
any questioning. Many think to excuse their unbelief by citing
the case of Thomas, saying that, like him, they have to see
before they can believe. But they forget the words of Jesus to
him: " Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed;
blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
John 20 : 29. Thomas lost the blessing that he might have had
but for his unbelief.
3.
NOTE
the poverty in which Jesus was born. Why was this ?
" For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though
he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich."
2
Cor. 8 : 9. He had ev-
erything in the universe;
-
for " all things were created by him,
and for him." Col. i : i6. He could have retained these
riches, and his equality with • the Father, if he had wished.
But he did not count that a thing to be grasped, but-" emptied
himself," and took upon him the form of a servant. Phil.
2
: 6-8, Revised Version. So we through his poverty are made
rich. The " unspeakable riches of Christ " are ours, if we ac-
cept him. We are "joint heirs with Jesus Christ." In him